FREDERICKSBURG, Va. -- The nationally-ranked Christopher Newport women's basketball team improved to 14-0 with a 68-61 win at No. 20 Mary Washington on Saturday afternoon, setting a new program standard with 31 consecutive victories. The Captains, playing without Preseason All-American Sondra Fan, outlasted the nationally-ranked Eagles with a dominant fourth-quarter to pull away for the win.

Christopher Newport added to a program-record win streak that breaks the 30-game roll posted by the 2009-10 version of the Captains. It is now just one win shy of the all-sports win streak record in CNU Athletics lore.

CNU snapped the Eagles eight-game winning streak and handed the home team just its second loss of the season as Mary Washington falls to 13-2 overall. The next chapter in the conference rivalry was a battle that saw UMW take a five-point lead at the break and hold the potent Captains' attack to well below their season's averages in points per game and field goal percentage.

The defensive struggle favored the home team through the first 16 minutes when Mary Washington opened up a game-high nine-point lead with a 25-16 advantage late in the second quarter. The Captains turned things around in the final four minutes, closing on an 8-4 run to narrow the gap to five headed into the locker room.

CNU carried that momentum into the second half when they pulled back to within one, 36-35, with 3:26 remaining in the third quarter, but Mary Washington rallied to keep the Captains down until the fourth quarter.

In the final stanza, CNU opened the period trailing 47-42, but quickly took control of the matchup. Phylicia McInnis buried a three-pointer to start the scoring followed by back-to-back layups by Anaya Simmons and Natalie Terwilliger to tie the game at 49. On the inbounds, Simmons grabbed a pivotal steal and ran out the lay-in for the Captains' first lead of the game, 51-49.

The Eagles teetered back in front momentarily, but Simmons went to the line and hit 3-of-4 in the middle portion of the quarter to give the Captains the lead again. Terwilliger sank another layup off a nice feed from Simmons and CNU took a four-point lead with four minutes to go. Not going down without a fight, Mary Washington tied it at 57 and against at 59 before the Captains pulled ahead for good with a 9-2 run to close out the game.

As usual, the defense led to big buckets for the Captains as another steal, this time by Jovia Winkey, freed Simmons for another fast-break bucket with less than two minutes to go giving CNU a 63-59 lead. In the final minute, the defense forced a shot-clock violation and three missed shots while the Captains hit their free throws on the other end of the floor to pull away. Gabbi San Diego knocked down three from the line while Winkey sealed the win with two at the end of the matchup.

Winkey stepped into the starting lineup for Fan, who was missing due to COVID-19 protocols, and led the team in scoring with 14 points including a 9-of-10 performance from the free-throw line. She added four steals, three assists, and three rebounds for the Captains. Also finishing in double figures was San Diego, with 13, and Simmons, with 12. Terwilliger finished with six points, five rebounds, six blocks, and three steals with a dominant second-half.

The tough Mary Washington defense held CNU to a season-low 36.8% shooting with 21 made baskets in 57 attempts. The Captains won the rebounding battle, 41-37, and snagged 17 offensive boards.

Playing in their first game in two weeks, the Captains shook off the rust and continued the second longest active winning streak in the nation. CNU will return to action on Wednesday at Methodist University for a 6:00 pm tip. No spectators will be permitted in Fayetteville, N.C. for the matchup against the Monarchs.